The Texas Lien Deadline Every Sub Misses: the Monthly Notice

Most subcontractors think the lien deadline is the day they file the affidavit. By then it's usually too late — because the deadline that actually protects you comes months earlier, and it repeats every single month you're on the job.

If you don't have a direct contract with the property owner — you were hired by a general contractor, or you supplied materials to a sub — Texas calls you a “derivative claimant.” To keep your lien alive, you have to send the owner and the original contractor a written notice for the unpaid work.

Why it repeats every month

The notice isn't a one-time letter. It attaches to the specific month the work was done. Work in March that went unpaid? That notice is due by June 15. April's unpaid work is due by July 15. Long jobs generate a rolling series of deadlines, and each one you miss carves a hole in what you can ultimately claim.

What the notice has to do

• Go to the property owner (and the original contractor, if you're below them).
• State the unpaid amount and identify the work and the project.
• Be sent by a method you can prove — certified mail, return receipt requested, is the standard.

The notice does two jobs at once: it preserves your lien, and it “traps” funds — once the owner has notice, money they still owe the general contractor can be held back to cover you. That's real leverage, and it's why the notice so often gets you paid without ever filing a lien.

The mistake that costs the most

Waiting until the job goes sideways. Contractors send the notice only after a customer stops paying — but by then the earliest months are already past their 15th-of-the-third-month deadline. The fix is boring and effective: send the notice on a schedule, every month there's an open balance, whether or not you're worried yet.